Robin’s Codename Just Stopped Making Sense (Again)

Robin’s Codename Just Stopped Making Sense (Again)

Tim Drake’s changing codenames between Red Robin and Robin makes his character arc incoherent in Infinite Frontier’s Bat-Family stories.

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Robin’s Codename Just Stopped Making Sense (Again)

Tim Drake has gone by many names over the years in DC Comics, but the one that he is most synonymous with is Robin. While he had been known as Red Robin for years, thanks to an eponymous solo series and his time on the Teen Titans, Tim has yet to have a consistent superhero identity in Infinite Frontier. This lack of continuity is confusing for fans, and suggests an uncertain future for his character.

The problem with Tim Drake’s current name continuity stems from the fact that he introduced himself to Clownhunter in a backup story to Batman #114 as “Red Robin” (written by Brandon Thomas, art by Jason Howard, letters by Clayton Cowles). While this is at once a return to one of his previous codenames, it is inconsistent with his identity in other stories running concurrently with Batman, such as Nightwing and Batman: Urban Legends. There, he is still known as Robin, thus making his decision to introduce himself as “Red Robin” to Clownhunter strange because readers have seen neither an impetus for this name change or a conscious decision on Tim’s part to adopt his old name again.

To make matters even more complicated, Tim still exists in Future State as Robin, seen in the ongoing Future State: Gotham series. Though it is unclear at this point whether the events of Future State will, in fact, come to pass, his reversion back to Red Robin in Batman is made even more difficult to understand because it would mean that he later decided to go back to Robin prior to the beginning of Future State. This seesawing between the Robin and Red Robin identities feels unmotivated by any events in the stories that Tim is in, giving readers no lens in which to understand these changes through.

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Unlike his fellow Robins, Tim Drake has not had a consistent non-Robin codename and identity over the years. The Nightwing, Red Hood, and Spoiler identities all effectively separate Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Stephanie Brown from their previous lives as Robin, but the same cannot be said for Tim Drake due to the lack of editorial continuity. As recently as last year, Tim shed the much maligned codename “Drake” in favor of returning back to Robin, less than a year after he had originally taken up the new name. So ultimately, Tim has suffered from multiple name changes that have skirted a longterm vision for his character beyond the Robin mantle.

Tim Drake is unquestionably in a new era for his character, with him coming out as LGBTQ in Batman: Urban Legends as an ultimate example of this. This is the most important time for his character since he first took up the Red Robin identity in 2009, and the lack of continuity surrounding his codename is making his presence in Infinite Frontier frustratingly incoherent. There are plenty of aspects to Tim Drake’s personality and experience that merit a unique identity like Nightwing, Red Hood, and Spoiler–so why hasn’t he been given one already? He has been a part of the Bat-Family for more than thirty years, so it is objectively time for him to have a name that reflects his experience. Being Robin ties Tim back to the Batman identity, with the promise of adopting a future independent persona. So if Tim Drake is truly leaving behind the Robin mantle, it should be an unequivocal decision that boldly sets him on a new path, not one that leaves fans scratching their heads.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/tim-drake-red-robin-codename-continuity/

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